'Final Fantasy XIV' Director Addresses In-Game Housing Issues

For many Final Fantasy XIV players, one of the many highlights of the recent update was the addition of a new housing area in the new Shirogane district. However, the chance to get a plot of land is long gone as the area is already full. The game’s director, Naoki Yoshida, took to the forums to address the situation and promised more space for additional housing in all areas by the next major update.

In addition to the promise of more housing space, Yoshida wrote that the relocation system, which allowed players to move their housing space from an old area to Shirogane, didn’t work as intended, which further complicated the ongoing housing issue within the game. Because the new plots of land were immediately available after the maintenance period ended, thousands of players rushed to sign in to the game only to find that they were part of a long queue of players who were doing the same thing. By the time they actually entered the virtual space, the chance to get a house was long gone.

Grabbing your own piece of virtual real estate in Final Fantasy XIV is easier said than done. To start, each area is broken up into 12 major wards, and each one contains 60 plots of land. With four major housing areas available, there are only 2,880 plots of land for each server. Free Companies, a.k.a. guilds, can buy a plot to house multiple players, but these areas also allow for individual people to buy their own piece of real estate. There’s also the issue that some servers are more popular than others, which means that the chances of getting your own house are most definitely next to none.

Before you get a house, you or your Free Company need to meet a set of criteria such as completing a specific mission, attaining the rank of second lieutenant in one of the game’s Grand Companies, and acquire millions of gil to pay for the space (price varies depending on the size of the house). However, these prerequisites are easy to obtain if you join a massive Free Company or played the game for a considerable amount of time.

The range of issues that start from limited space to login queues is evident that something needs to change in order to reduce the mayhem that occurs when a new housing area opens up. In terms of adding more space, Yoshida said that the team “received considerable feedback as to how they should be added, and we will be making an announcement outlining the number of new wards and how they will be sold after reviewing said feedback. To prevent speculation, we will refrain from releasing information until absolutely necessary.” It’s a step in the right direction but the damage is already done, and unless you’re one of the lucky few to get a new house as a result of update 4.1 and the upcoming update 4.2, you might have to wait for the next major expansion to have any chance at a virtual home.